Caffiene Withdrawal Symptoms

[Domestic Goddess]

For the last few years I have been drinking about 1 and a half litres a day of diet cola. On Thursday I decided to quit cold turkey and, blimey, iti s painful!! My head is pounding and my mouth feels like a gorilla's armpit. I feel naseous and lethargic.

Has anone else tried kicking caffiene? If so how long did the awful symptoms last?

Weird think is, I'm suddenly craving ciggies when I gave up 12 years ago! It seems as if my body demands that I am addicted to something.

To cap it all, I'm also dieting and can't scoff chocolate :badmood:

Life is very hard at the moment!!!!

[smoo22]

My heart goes out to you, domestic goddess!

I am a total caffeine addict too - only for coffee rather than cola, and I don't mean Nescafe, I drink double espresso coffee like it's going out of fashion!

The one time I "gave up" was when I was visiting friends for a few days over a bank holiday - they only drink herbal tea and the like, all the little local shops were shut for the holiday weekend and I couldn't get hold of even the cheapest, nastiest form of caffeine. I ended up drinking coke (which I can't stand) in the pub after 3 days, coz I had the same symptoms as you!

Not much help to you, I know, but plenty of sympathy - you are a brave person!! :notworthy:

Have you considered any of the Half-caff things around these days to wean yourself off gradually? (Not sure if they do coke but I know you get it in instant coffee), or buy some Pro-plus caffeine tablets and see if a little TINY bit of one, just enough to alleviate the worst of the withdrawal symptoms) might help?

Good luck to you - don't be tempted back to the ciggies, they are a lot worse for you than caffeine!!@!

smoo22

[Eeyore]

I couldn't do it DG, I live on coke and black coffee (not together!) :lol:

Good luck to you

[Domestic Goddess]

I used to drink so much cola because I don't like hot drinks at all. I'm drinking tons of orange squash at the moment, but feel thirsty all the time.
Hopefully things will get better soon.

DG
XXXX

[er 59]

hi dg
i remember reading about withdrawal from caffiene in a magazine i had ive just dug it out
it says the withdrawal symptoms are headaches lethargy trembling and restlessness and reduced concentration
it also advises that if you used to have a lot of caffiene you shouldnt try to stop completely but ween yourself off gradually over a period of 7-14 days
if you stop having caffiene suddenly it can cause a dramatic drop in blood pressure which will cause a bad headache
maybe you should have just a couple of glasses of coke to see if it eases your symptoms and try to come off it slowly
hope you feel better soon :)

[Valsheen]

Hi DG

I couldn't give up my caffeine fix in the morning. I'm just not a morning person - but two spoonfools of Nescafe Cap Colombie with just a touch of milk seems to do the trick. Its the only way I can appear slightly normal. :D

I did try caffeine free coffee some years ago- and suffered from the usual symptoms, headaches, dizziness, lethargy etc. It doesn't last tho and you'll soon be feeling fine. I stuck to to it for about a year then went back to my old ways :(

I believe I also have an addictive personality. I was a smoker too, gave up and became addicted to Nicorette for 8 years. :bigeyes: I managed to come off the Nicorette about 5 months ago - by changing from tablets to patches. One day just forgot to put one on and hey presto! :thumbs:

At the moment its Muller blackcurrant yoghurt and avocados (not together :bigeyes: ) - so I don't think I have too much to worry about there, do you?

Next on the agenda - I'm going to try and become addicted to exercise - I'll let you know how I get on :D

V

[Bonkers Mad!!!]

At the moment its Muller blackcurrant yoghurt and avocados (not together** )

why not? :D

i'm a coffee coke and fag addict. first job in the morning, open can of coke, full fat, can't see any point to the diet stuff as there isn't any fat in any coke so diet coke should really be called "toothkind". then i have a fag while i make coffee :lol: i'd have said eat chocolate to hold the cravings at bay but as you are on a diet that's no good. i never diet, i reckon i'm skinny cos i eat a lot of high calorie food but not a lot of fat and i never eat after about 4pm but that's when i'm busiest, burning off all the calories that i ate during the day. so, huge breakfast, large lunch, lots of snacks in between and nothing after 4 :thumbs:

[Domestic Goddess]

It's been five days now and I still have a lingering niggly headache - but it's nothing compared to the migraines I had Friday - Sunday. My sleep pattern is all over the place too and I zonked out yesterday afternoon and then couldn't sleep last night.

I hope it will all calm down soon and I start feeling human again soon.

Thanks for all your lovely support!!

[Annabel]

I used to live on coffee before I had my daughter, at work we drank cofee every hour all day long...

i rarely touch a drop now, i find i have a few sips then i just cant go any further....yuk!

i am still a teapot though, would never give that up, but even that i have cut back a lot on, i mainly crave it first thing in the morning , but i can take it or leave it in the afternoon, and I am much more into a nice lovely herbal tea instead.

I did have a fad on Diet Coke and even now, if I feel really bad and in need of a kickstart i feel tempted to swig some back, but it really is nasty stuff, its full of chemicals, and i really feel like i am almost poisoning myself if I drink it :o

caffeine withdrawal is very nasty and i for one used to just swallow down paracetamols if i got a headache....thus running the risk of getting addicted to that instead :lol: tsk!

[Valsheen]

Me too, just going to get one (up and down two flights of stairs so a bit of exercise thrown in!) :coffee: Ooooh - I needed that :D

V

[JJ]

Hi DG

I cut out caffine about 4 weeks ago, under doctors orders, and had cut out all things that contribute towards stress... CAFFINE, being a big one. I switched to De-caff nescafe, and cut out all cola drinks.

I have lived on the sparkling flavoured water from tescos and hot chocolateever since...

The first few days I was twitchy and irritable, seems now to have settled down and once you get used to de-caff, it isn't that bad!!???


JJ